Hostage Calm Gives A Final Salute In New Haven

Seven years: measured in punk-rock time, it’s almost an eternity. Bands, even some of the best ones, come and go; they flame on, then flame out, quickly, but not before leaving some scar tissue and some thoughts still resounding in their fans’ heads.

Wallingford power-punk quintet Hostage Calm stuck it out for seven years, through four studio albums, lineup changes and a fair share of critical acclaim. After releasing “Die On Stage,” their fourth studio album, last fall, the politically charged band abruptly, and with no explanation, called it quits while still on tour with Citizen. After a brief period, they announced a farewell run of shows in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago and New Haven — a final goodbye to fans who’ve stuck with them all these years.

Hostage Calm plays its final show at Toad’s Place in New Haven on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m., with special guests The World Is…, Superheaven, Adventures and Sorority Noise. CTNow conducted an exit interview of sorts with singer Chris Martin, who spoke about the breakup, what Hostage Calm accomplished in its heyday and and what the future holds.

CTNow: Hostage Calm announced in October that you’d no longer play together. Why did you think now would be a good time to call it quits?

Chris Martin: We’re not really looking to address that. We’ve kept a tight lid on the various reasons for disbanding, but it was certainly sudden and something that took us by surprise in the middle of a tour. It was the type of thing where, when you grew up playing punk music, that genre in general, you look at a lot of your favorite bands: they were bands that played for two or three years. That’s how it always was, whether it was Operation Ivy in California or the Gorilla Biscuits in New York. It was “1987 to 1989” on the last-show shirt. Punk has always had this sort of fatalism to it, where it’s always rubbing up against the strictures of daily modern life. When you go that hard, and you play in a different country every month, and you’re out there burning so hard, there’s always this expectation that nothing lasts forever, that you have this rare opportunity to seize, only for the short time you’ve been blessed with. That’s probably all I’ll say about that.

CTNow: With some bands, there’s a gradual sense of, “Oh, we’re getting sick of playing music with each other.” It doesn’t sound like a slow-boil kind of falling apart.

CM: I guess if you ask people, “Why does a marriage fall apart?” — there are probably events and all these things that happen that are in the now, but it’s more of a reflection of wear and tear. There’s always a sense of immediate and the longer term. I can definitely say that I love the guys in this band. We pride ourselves on being such a tight-knit group for so long. Eventually, there comes a time that it doesn’t work in the same way.

CTNow: Is there a special meaning to doing one last show at Toad’s Place?

CM: Absolutely. In this genre, this scene, this community, there’s a pretty rich tradition of doing a last show, of coming together for a sense of closure, a finale for all the people who were involved with this band, all the fans, all the people who worked for us over the years, all the people who broke their backs to help us out. It’s getting a chance to lay a flower on the casket. That’s been a tradition in punk for a long time. We also owe it to a lot of our fans who’ve been with us for a long time. We had just put out an album [when we announced the breakup]. I think that people who’ve come out for so long and who have been supporters for so long, in my view, deserve one last salute.

CTNow: What are some of the ways you’ve noticed the scene you’re a part of evolve from the mid-’00s until now?

CM: I do think that the scene, for some things that have always been tenets of the punk movement, and probably rock and roll, in the grander sense, a reverence for originality, individualism, social justice, being a vehicle for social change, or at least a document of the social climate of the time, I think this scene in particular — when I was first getting involved with it, right about when President Bush took office, there was the beginning of our generation’s endless warfare. There was a real sense of a narrowing future for young people. In that period of time, from when we started this band, you also had the economy really starting to tank. Those things all informed our experiences. They made us very aware of the class situation in America, the general economic situation, the complete dissonance between what was being told to you and what you felt was going on. I think this scene, in general, has become more open-minded, has taken on a lot more social issues, more so than when I was growing up. When I was growing up, it was pretty much the war in Iraq. Since then I think it’s broadened its reach and broadened its discussion on what it means to be a community that stands for something, and what it’s supposed to stand for.

CTNow: Do you feel confident that, with Hostage Calm not spreading the word anymore, that some of the issues you’ve raised will continue to be expressed by other bands?

CM: This music community goes back a long time. Before us and after us there will be voices to discuss important issues that take a very controversial stance, that do things that are not in the interest of their career but are in the grander interest of social justice. I think that will always continue. When we were growing up, we were told that no one in punk cared about politics, that no one cared about social issues, that the scene was about just kids going on the internet. My experience, the scene that we envisioned, that we visualized — we felt it was more dormant than anything. That scene has come to life in a vibrant and meaningful way. That’s a process that’s going to happen over and over again. There will be peaks and troughs and moments when you think people couldn’t care less about this or that, and there will be voices who stand up to reactivate and inspire kids. That went on long before us and will go on long after us. These issues are in good hands. The discussions that get started in the scene, by whomever: once you start talking, it only grows.

CTNow: What can we expect from the last show, and what will you do musically after this?

CM: We’re going to pull out a lot of tricks, a lot of stops, a lot of songs across every album. We started off as more of a hardcore punk band and branched out more and more over time. We really tried to push musical boundaries. We’re going to play stuff across all eras of the band and really pay tribute to the journey, both musically and socio-politically, that this band has undergone. We’re going to have every last thing we can think of and drum up for the finale.

As for music from here on out: I have been working on a lot of stuff over the past couple of years, both experimental and a little more organized. I definitely expect to be making music in the future, and for those out there who are Hostage Calm fans, you’ll definitely hear some music down the line with members of Hostage Calm. I can say for sure you’ll see me again.

HOSTAGE CALM performs at Toad’s Place in New Haven on Friday, March 6, with the World Is, Superheaven, Adventures and Sorority Noise. Showtime is 7 p.m. Tickets are $12. Information: toadsplace.com.